No understanding with Trinamool as long as I’m Cong president: Adhir Chowdhuryhttps://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/no-understanding-with-trinamool-as-long-as-im-cong-president-adhir-chowdhury-4659223/

ADHIR CHOWDHURY on Tuesday asserted that there would be no bonhomie with Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, as long as he was the state Congress president. The statement came at a time when Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee met Congress President Sonia Gandhi over presidential polls in New Delhi.

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“I do not support the idea of Trinamool beating up Congress workers in West Bengal and forging a unity with us in Delhi. As long as I am the president of the party in West Bengal, there would be no understanding with Trinamool in the state,” Chowdhury told mediapersons.

He went on to urge the Congress high command to keep “the condition of Congress workers in Bengal” in mind before holding any political talks with Trinamool. “As far as I have been told, Banerjee has gone there to talk about the presidential elections. I do not know if she has any hidden agenda. But I would urge the Congress high command to keep the political situation in Bengal in mind before discussing anything with TMC,” he said. Recently, Chowdhury had written to Sonia, apprising her about the “atrocities committed by Trinamool workers” on Congress members in the state.

Congress leader Om Prakash Mishra said that being a non-NDA party, Mamata was bound to support the Opposition candidate for presidential polls. “Since Trinamool is a non-NDA party, it is incumbent on it to support the Opposition candidate. If they fail to extend such a support, it can be assumed that they are inclined to indirectly help BJP. It is the initiative of Congress and other Opposition parties, so she has to answer whether she is a non-BJP force,” he added.

Claiming that “there shall be no understanding with Trinamool in West Bengal”, Mishra said: “Our political objective in West Bengal is two-fold — one is to uphold democracy and transparency and second, is to fight for secular values. Since Mamata represents authoritarian trends and her party believes in domination through violence, Congress will have no understanding whatsoever with her in West Bengal.”